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Miss Hardbroom
The fearsome deputy headmistress of Miss Cackle's Academy, she is Mildred's form mistress in first form and through various combinations of events continues to be her form mistress throughout the series. HB, as the pupils call her for short, has a habit of vanishing into thin air - and she can sneak around invisibly and spy on her pupils who always get caught when they are in mischief. Biography Miss Constance Hardbroom is the deputy head of Cackle´s - and the real power behind the throne. It is her who mostly succeeds in imposing her will on everybody by means of frowning, shouting or simply talking a blue streak till everyone gives in to her. In Weirdsister College, Miss Hardbroom (Played by Kate Duchêne) appears in the first episode. She is summoned by magic to test Mildred (and tell her off), to see if she was strong enough to enter Weirdsister as a student. Mildred passed and Miss Hardbroom wished her luck, and a smile before returning to Cackle's. Miss Hardbroom has a beautiful, sleek black cat called Morgana. Physical Apperance Miss Hardbroom is tall, stiff, thin and scary and strongly rejects any “indulgence of the flesh” - such as consuming candy or cake - or catching naps (though she claims to sleep six hours on weekends). She keeps herself going with wideawake potion - and is always around when you don´t expect her to be. She is tall, thin and bony with waist-length black hair which she keeps "scragged into such a tight knot that her forehead looked quite stretched". Miss Hardbroom usally wears predominantly black, ankle lengh, long sleeve dresses, though she has purple pyjamas in the TV series. A notable exception is in the episode Cinderella In Boots she plays the fairy godmother in the cinderella pantomine- she wears a pale pink fairy dress, complete with white tights, wings, wand and a tiara. Personality and Traits Miss Hardbroom is terriying and extremely strict- She "Strikes fear into the pupils' hearts". Miss Hardbroom is even terrifying enough to reduce any pupil to a gibbering heap with one word. Despite seeming cruel, Miss Hardbroom's softer side does come through on occasions, such as her "brief flicker of friendliness" at the end of The Worst Witch Saves the Day and her admitting her error of judgement in The Worst Witch to the Rescue. However, Miss Hardbroom has been shown to have a kinder side to her. In fact, Maud once remarked "You know, sometimes I don't think she’s as bad as we think she is". In the later books Miss Hardbroom's humanity comes through on occasion, in incidents such as her accident in The Worst Witch All at Sea and the restoring of Mildred's hair to its rightful length in The Worst Witch Saves the Day. Miss Hardbroom can be quite immature when upset, this is shown by her temper tantrums in The Millenium Bug (mentioned only) and Better Dead Than Co-ed. Despite Miss Hardbroom's fearsome nature, it was hinted at that she was actually afraid of at least one witch; that being Mistress Hecate Broomhead, her old personal tutor, whom Miss Hardbroom claims to have taught her "Everything she knows" (including how to appear from thin air). Friends and Enemies Miss Hardbroom is good friends with Miss Cackle. Her attitude towards the other staff members, Miss Bat and Miss Drill, can mostly be rated as hostile - they both annoy her frequently. HB also hosts a strong contempt for every creature of the male species. Her brief relationship with famous DJ Icy Stevens was a remarkable exception and ended as soon as he put his hand on her arm. She does show a level of respect for both Mr Blossoms however Miss Hardbroom frequently praises and rewards Ethel Hallow, and frequently rebukes Mildred in front of the other students. Miss Hardbroom took a particular disliking to Mildred at first sight - It is Miss Hardbroom who gives Mildred the title of "the worst witch in the school." This used to be quite mutual. However, getting acquainted with each other and actually saving each other´s life now and then, both grudgingly had to learn (though not to admit) that each of them has her strong points - which results in a kind of love-hate relationship. Still, Miss Hardbroom relishes in yelling at Mildred and her friends and approving smiles are very thin on the ground with her. In The New Worst Witch, Miss Hardbroom dislikes Hettie and favors Belladonna and Cynthia. she now has disagrements with fellow teacher Miss Nightingale. Abilities and Skills Miss Hardbroom is a talented witch, probably the most powerful seen in the series. She is also the only witch (aside from Hecate Broomhead) shown to have the ability to appear from thin air. Mildred Hubble is shown to be able to do this in the first episode of The New Worst Witch, indicating she learned it either at Wierdsister or was taught it by Hardbroom. Hardbroom did take the entire complement of Mildred's year to the great hall via this method. Weirdsister College Miss Hardbroom appears at the beginning of the first episode. She is the figure that is conjoured up when Milly looks into the All-Seeing Eye - she is there to warn her about her "mad-cap plans." She knows Milly's penchant for rushing into things, and tries to warn her, but Milly has matured and now knows that she will be the only one to blame if things go wrong. So Miss Hardbroom leaves with a smile and wishes her good luck. Trivia *Miss Hardbroom would be the most popular character in The Worst Witch, particlarly her TV series portrayal by Kate Duchene. *Fans commonly refer to Miss Hardbroom by her nickname, HB (also spelt H.B.). *Miss Hardbroom is often compared to Professor Severus Snape from Harry Potter'' . They are both tall and thin, wear black and have black hair, as well as both being strict potions teachers. Miss Hardbroom is also considered to be like Professor McGonnagall, the Deputy head of Harry Potter's Hogwarts, in that they are both strict, but are caring underneath. *Two episodes in the TV series give particular insight into Miss Hardbroom's character: The Inspector Calls, and The Millenium Bug, both in season two. In T''he Inspector Calls, we meet Heketty Broomhead, and discover that Miss Hardbroom is afraid of her. In T''he Millenium Bug'', Miss Hardbroom threatens to resign when Mr Hallow decides to sell the school- she can "only dance to one tune" and dosen't want to teach in the new school. This leads to a coversation between her and Mildred, who ends up saving the school. *Despite her claims to dislike modern technology, Hardbroom was more then capable of operating the radio broadcast unit in "The Witchy Hour" with just a brief glance. Category:Characters